The Simple Addition Of Any Fluid Matter To A Body So Circumstanced, Will Not Cause Any Aberration, As It Will Distribute Itself In The Parts Nearest To The Centre Of Gravity, Without Regard To The Centre Of The Body, Which May Or May Not Be The Same.

The principal tracts of both land and sea may be held to extend from the North towards the South Pole, and are accordingly in the direction of the earth's axis.

Obviously, therefore, there is no necessity for a southern continent to answer as a counterpoise; and it is even conceivable that the matter in the regions of the South Pole, is specifically lighter than that of any other part, in perfect consistency with what is known of the earth's motion. The reasons of a different kind from what have now been mentioned, for the existence of southern lands, fall to be elsewhere considered. - E.

[2] An account of the voyage performed by Magalhaens, is given in vol. x. of this collection. The discoveries made by that enterprising man in the South Pacific Ocean, were far from being very important; but the expedition in which he unfortunately lost his life, will ever be memorable in the pages of history, as the first circumnavigation of the world. - E.

[3] Mr Dalrymple has collected together the few existing notices of Spanish voyages of discovery, betwixt the times of those performed by Magalhaens and Mendana. Though by no means considerable in bulk, they are too numerous to be detailed in this place.

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